The Billion Dollar Divorce

Sarah was getting a divorce, and her husband said his company was worth only $3 million. Which wasn't close to its true value, so Sarah called us to get a more accurate figure.

Our valuation, based on a full analysis of current income and future expectations, was $15 million.

But what happened next surprised everyone.

A broken marriage:

Sarah had been married to Daniel for almost 20 years. When she married him, she knew he would be busy running his business. She had no idea just how busy.

Eventually, it got to be too much, and she wanted out. They tried marriage counseling, but after Daniel missed two sessions in a row, it was too much. Sarah filed for divorce the next week. Because they didn't have a prenuptial agreement, she was now entitled to half of what Daniel owned.

A smug Daniel claimed his large company was worth only $3 million. Sarah knew in her heart that he was way undervaluing things, but wasn't sure how to proceed. Her lawyer suggested she retain J.P. Katz & Associates to get answers.

First we obtained all the relevant documentation and data. Then we analyzed the company's revenue streams and eventually came up with a value of $15 million. This amount was fair, based on the best analysis, and was clearly going to prevail over the $3 million estimate.

Daniel, however, been busy and found a buyer for his company. He ended up selling it for $1.4 billion!

Sometimes the math just doesn't work.

"Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it," Publilius Syrus